Electric cigarette lighter



May 29, 1951 B. T. JONES 2,554,742

ELECTRIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed Feb. 21, 1950 Benjamin T Jones INVENTOR.

BY mm Patented May 29, 1951 ELECTRIC CIGARETTE LIGHTER Benjamin T. Jones, Miami Beach, Fla., asslgnor to Aeromar, Inc., Miami, Fla., a corporation of Florida Application February 21, 1950, Serial No. 145,343

1 Claim.

This invention relates to smokers appliances, and has more particular reference to a portable combined ash receptacle and cigar or cigarette lighter adapted to derive current from a house wiring system and to rest on a horizontal supporting surface, such as a table top.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an appliance of the above kind including a hollow base or stand provided with an ash receiver and having a horizontal wall portion provided with an opening, and an electric lighter including a vertical open-top housing fitted and secured in said opening and having spaced bottom contacts, and a lighter member having an incandescent wire provided with spaced terminals, said lighter member being manually movable downwardly into said housing in a substantially ver-- tical direction to engage said terminals with said contacts and heat the wire, whereby said manual movement of the lighter member will not cause horizontal displacement of the appliance on the supporting surface, and holding of the appliance against such displacement is unnecessary.

The exact nature of the invention will be apparent from the following description when considered with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of an ash receptacle and lighter embodying the present invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical section taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Referring in detail to the drawing, 5 indicates a hollow base or stand adapted to be placed on a horizontal supporting surface S, such as the top of a table, and preferably cast or molded of any desired design. The base or stand '5 is provided with an ash receiver 1 of shallow tray-like form having spaced marginal recesses 8 which form the usual cigar or cigarette rests. At one side or in back of the ash receiver, the base or stand has a horizontal wall portion 9 provided with an opening Ii] is which is fitted and secured the housing ll of an electrical cigar or cigarette lighter of the incandescent type which also includes a lighter member l2 having an incandescent wire element l3 at one end and a knob or handle H! at the other end. The housing ll carries spaced contacts [5 and [5 into engagement with which spaced terminals l6 and I6 of the wire element l3 may be moved, by pressing the lighter member downwardly, to heat said wire element l 3. This contact is made by pressing the lighter member [2 downwardly into the housing I l, and after the wire element I3 is heated, pressure .on the lighter member 12 is released and said lighter member is elevated, so that heating of the wire element I3 is discontinued, whereupon the lighter member l2 may be lifted entirely out of the housing to light a cigar or cigarette. Current for the lighter may be derived from a house wiring system by means of an attachment cord I! having wires connected at corresponding ends to contacts [5 and I5 and at their other ends to a plug connector I 8 adapted for reception in an outlet receptacle of the wiring system.

Spring means is provided to normally yieldingly support the lighter member in an elevated position within the casing II with the terminals I6 and I6 disengaged from the contacts l5 and I5. As shown, this means includes a disk l9 secured between the knob I4 and the body 20 of said lighter member and having radial resilient tongues 2| resting on the casing II. The wire element l3 may be disposed within a metallic casing 22 attached to the bottom of the body 20, and adjacent but electrically insulated from the flat bottom wall of said casing 22 so as to heat and render said bottom wall incandescent. However, it is apparent that the wire element l3 may be embedded in and exposed at the bottom of the body 20 so as to eliminate the casing 22. A resistance element 23 is included in the lighter circuit in series with the wire element l3, said resistance element being such that the voltage drop across the same is considerably greater than that across the element 13, whereby the element l3 may not be readily burned out when the lighted is operated on the current of relatively high voltage supplied by house wiring systems, and whereby the lighter may be made relatively small and manufactured to sell at a relatively low cost. In this way, no costly and troublesome voltage regulator or step-down transformer is required. The resistance element 23 may be interposed between one of the contacts IE or IE and a wire of cord l1, and arranged within the base 5. Also, said element 23 may be of the type sold on the market under the name Calrod, wherein a resistance wire is enclosed within and insulated from a tubular casing.

As shown, the ash receiver I may consist of an ash tray separate from and removably seated in a recess 24 of the base or stand. Due to the type of lighter used, no separate manually operable switch is required to control the same. As the lighter is vertically disposed, the device will not be moved horizontally relative to the table top or the like when the lighter member is pressed into the housing, even though the device is not held against such movement.

From the foregoing, the nature and advantages of the invention will be apparent. Modifications and changes in details of construction are contemplated within the spirit of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A portable lighter for use in combination with an ash receptacle, said lighter comprising a base having a recess for reception of a lighter, a vertically disposed electrical lighter of the incandescent type including a tubular housing positioned and fixed in said recess in said base, a lighter member reciprocably mounted within said housing and having an incandescent unit at its lower end, means yieldingly supporting the lighter member in an elevated position within the housing, said incandescent unit having its terminals disposed at the center and periphery of the bottom of the unit to provide electrical contacts, said housing having an annular contact ring supported within said housing below said incandescent unit and engageable with the outer contact of said unit upon depressing said lighter member into said housing, an angulated metallic strap secured to the lower end of said housing and having its free end disposed in alignment with the central contact of said unit, for electrical contact therewith upon depression of said member, a re sistance element connected to said angulated strap and being of a resistance greater than that of the incandescent unit, and an attachment cord having its wires connected to said resistance element and annular ring, respectively, whereby said resistance element and incandescent unit are connected in series when said lighter is in its depressed position Within the housing.

BENJAMIN T. JONES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent: 

